Philip Morris
Project Rainbow
Fields
- Author
- Bring, M.H.
- Author (Organization)
- PM, Philip Morris
- Type
- MEMO, MEMORANDUM
- Area
- BRING,MURRAY/SEC'Y FILES
- Attachment
- 2048143656/2048143672
- Litigation
- Okag/Privilege Withdrawn
- Okag/Produced
- Site
- N327
- Named Organization
- Congress
- RJR, R.J.Reynolds
- Supreme Court
- Working Group
- Characteristic
- ATTY, ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
- CONF, CONFIDENTIAL
- Master ID
- 2048143656/3672
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PHILIP MORRIS COMPANIES INC. INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL 120 PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017-5592
TO: Messrs. H. Maxwell
R. W. Murray
FROM: Murray H. Bring
DATE: January 24, 1991
SUBJECT: PROJECT RAINBOW
This memorandum and the attachment are being sent to you in
anticipation of our meeting on February 4 to discuss Project
Rainbow. The working group, consisting of Messrs. Campbell,
Goldberg, Greenberg, Smith and myself, has had two meetings, and we
have developed a consensus about how we should proceed. A proposed
plan of action is set forth in the attached memorandum that has
been prepared by David Greenberg.
Essentially, we have agreed to recommend to you that we
initiate steps to explore with appropriate Congressional leaders
the possibility of achieving a legislative compromise in this
Session which would, with our acquiescence, impose significant
future restrictions on cigarette advertising and event promotions,
in return for which Congress would, in the same legislation,
reaffirm the preemption of alleged tort claims related to smoking.
We would also anticipate a five-year period of "legislative peace"
with respect to marketing issues. This recommendation is
conditioned on our first being able to persuade Reynolds to join us
in this effort. Accordingly, if you concur, the next step in the
process should be for us to contact Reynolds at a very high level
(e.a.. Maxwell to Gerstner), to determine whether they are prepared
to cooperate with us in this undertaking.
For reasons detailed in Greenberg's memorandum, time is of
the essence, since the strategy, if it is to be successful, would
require passage of the legislation prior to an anticipated Supreme
Court decision on preemption toward the end of this year, assuming
that the Court agrees to review the Cipollone case. (If the Court
should deny review in Cipollone, the time pressure would be
relieved, and we would probably be focusing on a two-year
legislative time frame. We should know whether the Court will
review Cipollone by mid-March. However, because we cannot afford
to waste approximately two months until the Court acts, we should
make the contact with Reynolds as quickly as possible, assuming you
decide that we should go forward at all.)
By way of background, the following is a brief summary of the r;r
principal conclusions we have reached thus far: -°

Messrs. H. Maxwell
R. W. Murray
January 24, 1991
Page - 2 -
I Underlyincr Considerations
A. Although the social and political environment with
respect to smoking is still hostile, the situation does
not appear to be quite as bleak as it did a year ago when
consideration of Project Rainbow was initiated.
Nevertheless, we recognize that we are facing a volatile
situation and that the environment could deteriorate more
rapidly almost any time.
B. The industry probably has more political leverage than we
previously thouq_ht with respect to some of the
concessions we are considering. Some concessions that
may not be very important to us are probably quite
important to our antagonists (e.g., bans on vending
machines and sampling). Therefore, we may be able to
achieve a compromise without offering the most we are
willing to concede.
C. Image advertising and some event promotions are extremely
important to our marketing plans and capabilities; they
may be more important to us than to our competitors.
Accordingly, we should be willing to make significant
concessions in these areas only if we get something
equally significant in return, such as a reaffirmation of
preemption.
D. We must assess any possible concession in terms of the
international implications it may have.
II. Possible Objectives of Prolect Rainbow
We have identified four possible objectives of Project
Rainbow; they are listed below in descending order of
importance and priority:
A. Reaffirmation of Preemption -- We believe that this is
the most important obj ective and the only one which would
justify making significant advertising and promotion
concessions. David Greenberg believes that we stand at
least a 50/50 chance of accomplishing this objective if
we move quickly and are prepared, along with Reynolds, to
make major concessions.

Messrs. H. Maxwell
R. W. Murray
January 24, 1991
Page - 3 -
B. To forestall legislative action that would be at least as
bad or worse than the concessions we are contemplating.
-- Clearly, if we felt it was inevitable that Congress is
likely to pass an ad ban or other major restrictions on
advertising in the future, then, it would make sense to
seek a legislative compromise now while we still have
bargaining power and leverage. However, David Greenberg
does not believe that Congress is likely to adopt an ad
ban or impose other onerous advertising limitations
within the next few years. Accordingly, this objective
is presently of limited importance.
C. To secure a competitive advantage. -- It is difficult to
assess whether a legislative compromise involving
significant restrictions on advertising and promotions is
likely to provide Philip Morris with a competitive
advantage. That might be the case if we thought that
Congress might impose those restrictions in any event
before we had fully implemented a competitive strategy
designed to combat the threat from Camel and to bolster
the growth of Marlboro. However, Bill Campbell believes
that we should be able to implement such a strategy
within the time frame that David Greenberg thinks
Congress is likely to take such action. Moreover, if it
were obvious that the concessions we are proposing would
result in a significant competitive advantage for Philip
Morris, then, it is extremely unlikely that Reynolds
would be willing to join with us in the project.
Accordingly, we do not believe that this objective would
justify undertaking this project.
D. To reduce the level of criticism directed toward Philib
Morris and the rest of the industry. -- We do not
believe that a legislative compromise involving
significant advertising and promotion restrictions is
likely to make us more popular either in Congress or in
the country generally. However, the elimination or
severe restriction of cigarette advertising would
diminish one of the principal focal points of our
antagonists' criticism. This could lead to a diminution
of the attacks against us and of the level of hostile
rhetoric. However, we believe that any such result is
too speculative to warrant, by itself, the initiation of
Project Rainbow.

Messrs. H. Maxwell
R. W. Murray
January 24, 1991
Page - 4 -
Accordingly, we conclude that the only objective which is
specific and tangible enough to justify our going forward is the
first objective of trying to obtain a reaffirmation of preemption.
III. Recommendation
Attached to David Greenberg's memorandum is an appendix which
sets forth three possible scenarios, including a description of the
specific concessions that will likely be required under each
scenario. The working group has reached a consensus as to the
concessions we should be willing to make in return for a
reaffirmation of preemption and a five-year period of "legislative
peace" with respect to advertising and marketing restrictions. The
working group is not unanimous in its recommendation. One member,
Guy Smith, believes it would be a mistake for us to offer any
concessions that are not absolutely necessary at this time. In
addition, Bill Campbell has some concerns about agreeing to major
concessions that might hamper our marketing efforts. Nevertheless,
he and the other members of the working group are prepared to
recommend all of the concessions set forth on the attachment,
including a total ban on advertising and event promotions --
provided that any ban be phased in over a five-year period.
It will not be possible to determine whether a compromise can
be achieved, and on what basis, until discussions with key
congressional leaders are initiated. However, ;.F,cause it may be
necessary early in those discussions to advise Congressmen such as
Dingle and Rose of how far we are prepared to go, we are all of the
opinion that we should not embark on this exercise unless a firm
decision is made by you that we would be willing to make major
concessions, including a total ad ban if that is necessary to
achieve our objective.
In any event, the entire working group is of the opinion that,
once we have decided whether we are prepared to go forward, we
should take the next step promptly of contacting Reynolds and
determining whether they are willing to join with us.
Attachments
cc: W.
M. Campbell
Goldberg
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G.
Smith r.o
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